


common people

by domremus



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Law Enforcement, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Police, F/F, M/M, Will add tags as I go, dorlene, jily, probably coneter, wolfstar
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-25
Updated: 2019-04-28
Packaged: 2020-01-31 19:43:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18598135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/domremus/pseuds/domremus
Summary: “For now, I have a placement for you, quite near here,” she offers, pointing to a case file lying underneath the discarded notice. “It’s small-scale, low risk. You’ll be living in a flat, owned by Mr David Bennett. He’s a suspected drug dealer and money launderer and lives in the flat above. You would simply be collecting information and evidence,” she finishes.“Okay,” Remus sighs, “it should be nice to have some time to myself.”“Oh, no.” McGonagall chuckles. “You misunderstand, Sirius Black will be accompanying you.”Remus groans, letting his head tip back. Black is a good detective and great fun to wind up, but the idea of spending any amount of time stuck in the same place as him doesn’t exactly appeal to Remus.“Oh.” She grins. “Also, the landlord, how should I put this? He swings the other way. So, it would be in the best interests of the case if you and Black were to, you know, play some make believe – give him something to talk to you about.”“Right,” Remus deadpans, picking up the notice and the case file and heading for the door, “thank you for your time.”law enfrocement/detective au where remus and sirius pretend to be a couple for a case.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hello there this is an idea i had for a fic literally yesterday, and now here is the first chapter.
> 
> some things you should know:  
> i tried to research the NCA etc. for this fic but there isnt that much info on how it works, so it might not be that accurate.  
> because of this, the organisation they work for is also, i guess, a work of fiction, although i've called it the NCA. so don't expect this to be accurate.
> 
> i hope u enjoy

“Fucking sirens,” James says, pressing his fingers into his temple, “they’re not even moving. Is it necessary to be this fucking loud when they’re parked?”  He tips his head back and rests it against the brick wall behind him.

“You’ve changed your tune,” Remus notes, nodding in James direction, “you were all for the sirens on the way here.”

“They’re not so bad when you haven’t been listening to them for three hours.”

“It’s been thirty-five minutes.” Remus chuckles and pushes away from the wall he was leaning against, shoving the sleeves of his windbreaker up as he walks a few feet away before turning around to face James again. “What do you think is taking so long?”

“How should I know?” James asks, throwing his hands in the air before letting them drop back to his side with a sigh.

“Well, why don’t we find out?” Remus questions, and with that he walks towards the cluster of people beside the cars without looking back to check if James is following.

Remus doesn’t need to ask, though, because as soon as he’s within earshot, he hears his superior, Agent McDougal, conversing with another man that he doesn’t recognise. He motions subtly for James to follow him behind the closest car.

“What -” James begins to ask, but Remus cuts him off.

“Shut up.”

“…through the back, seeing as the front has been barricaded.” The man says, nodding his head in the direction of the bank.

“It’s a no-go right now. This guy is way too hostile and it seems like he’ll put a round into anything that moves towards him. We’re waiting on Whitehead. He’s about half an hour out, but he’s the closest trained negotiator, so we’ll have to wait.” McDougal explains, arms lifting up in a _what can you do_ motion.

“We’ll keep the fire door in the back propped open for now, just let us know when he gets here.” McDougal nods as the other man turns and walks back to the other side of the building.

“Wh -” James begins to ask again, but this time he’s cut off by a female voice.

“Sir,” she says, sounding out of breath, and Remus immediately recognises her as Lily Evans, another agent that reports to McDougal. “There’s, well, there’s a woman giving birth in there,” she rushes out.

“There’s _what?_ ” McDougal asks, and Lily nods quickly.

“One of the hostages, she’s pregnant. Well, I guess she won’t be pregnant for much longer.”

“For fuck’s sake,” McDougal mutters before looking down at his phone again. Remus can only presume that he’s checking the time. “Not much we can do.” He shrugs before pushing past her. Lily falters for a second, as if debating calling after him, but deciding against it. 

 “Okay,” James says finally, turning to Remus, “what was that about?”

“Didn’t you hear?” Remus asks, eyes narrowed, “there’s no way we have time to wait for a goddamn negotiator.”

“What are you saying, Remus?” James punctuates his question with a look over his shoulder at McDougal, who is currently pacing along the path at the front of the bank.

“Well,” Remus says slowly, tipping his head towards a small cluster of people standing at the corner of the bank leading to the back wall.

“Oh,” James lets out, a smile spreading across his face, “brilliant.”

Remus smacks James on the shoulder for encouragement before turning to step out from behind the car, but he’s met by the face of Lily Evans.

“What are you two doing?” she says, her hand on Remus’ chest as she pushes him back, almost causing him to stumble over his own feet.

“We’re about to be heroes, Evans.” James says from behind Remus, attempting to manoeuvre around him.

“And exactly _how_ do you plan to do that?” She asks, stepping to her right to block James’ path.

“Look,” Remus says, standing up straight, “Lily, we don’t have time for this. That woman in there needs some help.”

Lily looks torn, but sighs. “Whatever,” she says, “I don’t even want to know. Go and get yourselves sacked.” She waves her hand at them dismissively before turning and walking away.

Remus turns to James and nods once, and the two of them head in the direction of the bank.

As they come closer to the entrance, a single fire door being propped open by a heavy duffel-bag, Remus realises that he doesn’t have a plan to slip past any of the local policemen that are gathered near the door. 

“Hey,” he calls to them when he’s around five metres away, “We’re NCA. Lupin,” he explains, pointing to himself, “this is Potter,” he continues, nodding towards James. 

“We’ve got the okay to enter now,” James says, reaching for the door to open it further, but one of the uniformed policemen gets there before.

“Sorry mate, but we can’t let anyone in until we get the order from a senior agent.” He says as he shepherds them away from the door.

Remus hears a shout come through the door, sounding far away, decides that there most definitely is not time for this, and runs. He hears shouting and scuffling behind him, but he doesn’t look back until he makes it through the back offices and comes to glass door of the bank’s main hall. He half expected to be pulled back before he got here, but there’s nothing they can do now as he stares at the back of the robber’s head.

He jumps when James comes to a stop at his side, breathing heavily. Apparently, so does the robber, because Remus and James are forced to jump away from the open door, their backs against the wall to either side of it, when he turns around and begins shooting.

“They’re readying some officers,” James shouts over the gunfire and breaking glass, “to come and get the hostages. They’re not happy.”

“No.” Remus laughs, shouting back, “I don’t imagine they would be.”

“So,” James whispers once the gunfire stops, “you have a plan? 

“No,” Remus replies, removing the gun from his belt and turning the handle of the door. He pushes the door open, still hidden by the wall, and the shooting begins again.

“What’s his name?” Remus questions frantically, looking toward James. 

“Oh, fuck.” James stops unholstering his own gun, “McCarthy!” He says finally. “Richard McCarthy.”

“Richard!” Remus shouts, and the fire stops again. “Richard,” he says once more, calmer this time. “How are you doing?” He nods at James and moves through the door, gun drawn.

“Nice day, isn’t it?” He notes, tilting his head towards the huge windows lining the wall on the left side of the hall as he slowly makes his way forward. “Can I call you Rich?” He doesn’t answer, so Remus continues.

“I’m here to help you out,” he says, taking another step forward, but stopping suddenly when Richard shifts. 

“Stop,” Richard says, voice cracking and hands shaking.

“Okay,” Remus says calmly, lifting his hands up beside his head in a defensive position, gun pointing to the ceiling. “This is it, Richard. There are more people coming in behind me. Doing anything else is just going to get you a longer sentence.” He begins to walk forward again. Richard takes a shaky breath and lowers his gun, and Remus takes the opportunity to speed up his pace.

“You haven’t hurt anyone, Richard. It’s going to be fine,” Remus reassures him. “Toss the gun away.”

Richard closes his eyes softly, readjusts his grip and fires a shot straight at Remus. The bullet cuts through the windbreaker and his jumper and connects with his arm and he cries out. Remus guesses that Richard has never _actually_ shot someone before, because the stunned look on his face is all Remus needs to make a grab for the gun, gripping the barrel and wrenching it out of Richard's grasp before sliding it along the floor behind him. Richard struggles, but he’s not a huge man, and Remus’ height gives him the advantage. He manages to pin him to the floor, knee on his back as he closes the handcuffs around Richard’s wrists. Remus looks up from the struggling man to see James sitting in the corner, hand white as the woman lying next to him clings to it. He pushes some fallen hair out of her face, and he murmurs softly to her.

After handing Richard over to some other officers, Remus makes his way out of the bank and out to where the hostages are being looked over, but before he can begin to talk to anyone, a paramedic is pulling him down onto a fold out chair and removing his coat.

“Woah, what are you doing?” Remus questions, trying to get to his feet, but the paramedic only pushes him back down.

“Stay there, please, you were shot. You need to be checked out.”

Remus had almost forgotten about that. The paramedic pushes up the sleeve of his jumper and begins to disinfect the wound, which brings back the pain. Remus thinks that this probably isn’t that bad, and that a real gunshot wound probably hurts a lot more than this, but he still swears when disinfectant hits it.

“Just a graze,” the paramedic says as he wraps a bandage around Remus’ arm and tapes the end down before stepping to the side to allow Remus to stand up, handing him his coat back.

“Thanks,” Remus mumbles dismissively, pulling his sleeve back down and walking away, coat in hand.

 

  

“You’ll _never_ guess what this crazy fucker did,” James announces when they enter the office a couple of hours later.

“Tripped over his oversized legs and fell onto a bullet?” Peter Pettigrew asks as he walks toward them, eyeing Remus’ arm with a grin on his face.

“Talked down a hostile hostage taker and came away with only a graze.” James corrects, throwing his arm around Remus’ shoulder. “I reckon that deserves a drink tonight, don’t you?”

“Of course  _you_ do,” comes the voice of Sirius Black from his desk “Can’t say no to the bottle, can you, Jamie?”

“Black!” Remus grins at him, dropping the case file onto Sirius’ desk and leaning against it with his arms crossed. “Better than your last case, don’t you think?”

“Shut up, Lupin. You know fine well that I’ve made more arrests than you this quarter,” he says, pointing his pen at Remus accusingly.

“Quality over quantity, my friend.” Remus counters, “Quality over -”

“Lupin!” A voice interrupts his bragging and Remus looks to the back of the room to see McGonagall standing at the door to her office, holding it open.

“Ooh,” James sings, “Someone’s in trouble.” He tries to dodge it, but Remus hits him over the head quickly and James shoves him back. He re-balances himself and heads toward McGonagall’s office as the entire room watches. 

“Remus,” she says as soon as he closes the door, “have a seat.” He lowers himself into the chair on the other side of the desk from hers, and waits for her to finish writing something down. He has a feeling that she’s prolonging  his wait on purpose.

“Do you know why you’re here?” she asks, finally looking up at him.

“Yes,” is all Remus says.

“Pray tell,” she urges, motioning to him.

“I disobeyed orders and created a dangerous situation,” Remus concedes, before continuing. “I helped a vulnerable woman and multiple hostages, while also taking down an armed criminal.”

“Remus -” McGonagall tried to argue, but he cuts her off.

“I _know_ I didn’t listen to my superior, but I trusted by instinct and I saved people _._ ”

“Yes, it may well have worked out fine. But you could have been shot. You could have been killed. You could have spooked that man and gotten the hostages killed.” She pauses, but Remus doesn’t say anything. “We have procedures for a reason, and you can’t go around breaking them for some time as a hero.”

“That’s not -”

“Be that as it may, Remus, but you’re suspended from all large-scale cases for the foreseeable future,” she tells him, handing him a typed formal notice.

“You can’t do that,” Remus argues, dropping the notice onto her desk. 

“We can, and we are. I’m sorry Remus, but you need to learn to control your impulses before we send you into something like this again.”

“Fine,” Remus says through his teeth, “whatever you think his best.”

“For now, I have a placement for you, quite near here,” she offers, pointing to a case file lying underneath the discarded notice. “It’s small-scale, low risk. You’ll be living in a flat, owned by Mr David Bennett. He’s a suspected drug dealer and money launderer and lives in the flat above. You would simply be collecting information and evidence,” she finishes.

“Okay,” Remus sighs, “it should be nice to have some time to myself. 

“Oh, no.” McGonagall chuckles. “You misunderstand, Sirius Black will be accompanying you.”

Remus groans, letting his head tip back. Black is a good detective and great fun to wind up, but the idea of spending any amount of time stuck in the same place as him doesn’t exactly appeal to Remus.

“Oh.” She grins. “Also, the landlord, how should I put this? He swings the other way. So, it would be in the best interests of the case if you and Black were to, you know, play some make believe – give him something to talk to you about.”

“Right,” Remus deadpans, picking up the notice and the case file and heading for the door, “thank you for your time.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello hello this is chapter two. it's been like 3 days or something since the last one so mayhaps i am doing well. thank u so much for the comments and kudos on chapter one i didnt expect much but people delivered. pls enjoy this chap.

Remus taps his fingers on the steering wheel to the beat of the song coming from the car speakers, ignoring Sirius’ deliberately over the top pout. 

“Just one,” Sirius whines, “please?”  

“No. We’re almost there, anyway,” Remus replies, not looking at Sirius. 

“Remuuus,” Sirius tries again, drawing out the last syllable in a way that Remus finds absolutely  _grating_ ** _._** ************************ “One song?” 

“God.” Remus turns to Sirius. “Do you  _ever_ shut up?”  

Sirius huffs and says, “You know, my mother said you weren’t good enough for me. She was right. I should have left you when I had the -”  

“Do you want to get through this case without being choked to death?” Remus cuts him off, “because if you do, you’re not going about it in the right way.” 

“Well,” Sirius says, raising a suggestive eyebrow, “maybe -” 

“Don’t. Don’t even start with that.”  

Remus had picked Sirius up from the office, half of the car boot packed with his essentials. He thought it was perfectly reasonable of him to leave the other half for Sirius’ things, but apparently that was ludicrous. Sirius needed  _way more space than that, Remus. I’m not wearing the same three pairs of trousers every day like some people._  

It takes three trips in the clearly health and safety regulation defying lift to get all of their belongings into their new flat, all of Remus’ things having been delivered in the first. Remus wishes the journey had taken longer, because he actually preferred listening to Sirius’ whining about music to the noise of children screaming in the courtyard outside.  

“Nice place for kids,” Sirius says, nodding his head toward the window as he sets his final bag down next to the front door.  

“Bet at least one’s died in that lift,” Remus replies, throwing himself down on the sofa that sits in the middle of the room. It’s a stupid place for a sofa, he thinks, they’re definitely meant to be against walls.  

“Morbid,” Sirius comments, but Remus can tell he’s not really listening as he sets off in the direction of the bedroom and out of sight. “It’s alright,” he calls after a minute, and Remus hauls himself to his feet to follow him.  

“Yeah,” Remus agrees, leaning in the doorway as Sirius sprawls across the bed, eyes closed, “you can have it.” 

“What?” Sirius sits up. “Oh. Oh, yeah, the bedroom. Sofa’s good then?” He asks. 

“Seems alright.” Remus nods. “I’ll move it against the wall, though.” 

“Why? Don’t want to feel exposed while you sleep?” Sirius grins. 

“Nah,” Remus says as he turns to leave, “just looks like shit.” 

He hears Sirius start to say something from behind him, but he’s cut off by a knock at the door. Sirius comes out of the bedroom and shares a wary look with him before pushing his shoulder, encouraging him to answer it. Remus pushes him back and makes his way to the door. 

Remus can hear the voices on the other side as he gets closer; they’re female and they sound conversational and non-threatening. When the door swings open, he’s greeted with two women who look around thirty years old. 

“Hi,” the taller of the two says, “We just wanted to come by and see if you needed any help unpacking?”  

“Oh,” Remus defaults, confused that he hadn’t foreseen friendly neighbours coming to help. He looks back at Sirius for confirmation, who only grins, so Remus takes that as a yes. “Yes, thank you. That would be great, actually,” he says, not moving. They stand there for a moment before Remus remembers his manners. “Sorry, yes. Come in, please.” 

“I’m Remus,” he supplies after closing the door, “and that’s Sirius,” he says, pointing to the space where Sirius was five seconds ago. “Oh, he -” 

“I’m here, darling.” Sirius assures him as he exits the bedroom again, “I was just changing, sorry,” he says, and Remus is 90% sure he’s wearing the same clothes that he wore 10 minutes ago, and on the drive here. “Hello ladies, my name is Sirius.” 

“I’m Dorcas,” says the one who spoke outside, “and this is Marlene, we live below you.”  

“Below us? Oh, I should apologise in advance for anything you might he -” Sirius begins to say, but Remus jumps in. 

“Oh, how stupid of me. I forgot to offer you a drink,” he says, “tea or coffee?” 

Marlene and Dorcas share a look. “Tea for me please,” Marlene says, “Milk, one sugar.”  

Dorcas asks for a coffee, and Remus heads to the empty kitchen. “Sirius,” he calls, “could you help me find the mugs, please? You packed them.”  

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sirius starts to say as he enters the kitchen, “I didn’t pack any -” 

“What are you doing?” Remus says over him. 

“What?” 

“The, you know, what you just said in there.” Remus explains, gesturing with his hands. 

“Oh, that. Well, we’re undercover, aren’t we? Have to commit.” Sirius grins.  

“Just, tone it down a bit, please.” Remus sighs. “We’re meant to be in a relationship, not horny teenagers.”  

“Fine.” Sirius shrugs, reaching into a box at his feet and pulling out a mug with a big, red ‘18’ printed on the side. “Is this yours?” He holds it up. “How long have you had this?” 

Remus snatches the mug back. “Shut up. Go and entertain them while I make the drinks.” He turns toward the counter before turning back again, adding, “do you want one?” 

Sirius huffs a laugh. “Coffee, please. Milky.” 

“Milky coffee? How very  _you_ .” Remus comments, and Sirius heads back into the living room. 

Remus returns a few minutes later holding, quite impressively, he thinks, three mugs in his outstretched hands. He sets them down in front of their respective owners and takes a spot on the sofa next to Sirius. 

“So,” he says, crossing an ankle over his thigh, “what are we talking about?” 

“We were laughing about how the guy who owns this building only rents to gays,” Marlene answers him, taking a sip from her mug. 

“Is that a thing, or…” Remus trails off and Dorcas laughs. 

“No, no. Our neighbours are a lovely, old, straight couple. But, god, do I  _wish_.”  

“So,” Marlene says, “I have to ask the obligatory question. How did you two meet?” She gestures to Remus and Sirius. 

Remus thinks back to what really happened when he met Sirius. They had both been trainees at the same time, vying for attention on a competitive programme. He can’t remember the exact moment he met Sirius, but he can remember how it felt when he beat him at the first training exercise, and the first time he did that stupid pout that he always seems to be doing, and the first time he heard that annoying laugh from his desk while he was trying to  _get some goddamn work done, Sirius. Shut up._  

“Well,” Sirius says, setting his mug down on the coffee table that definitely doesn’t match the room, “it really is quite the story, isn’t it, my love?” He turns to look at Remus and smiles. “I was perusing my favourite local bookshop, looking for a rare first edition copy of _The Picture of Dorian Gray_ that I’d heard had been acquired by them, and was now up for sale at, honestly, quite a reasonable price,” he explains. “But, who should I find possibly considering the exact same purchase?” Sirius rests his hand on Remus’ knee before he continues, “This handsome devil right here.”  

Remus laughs and takes Sirius’ hand, removing it from his knee and intertwines their finger to hide the movement. “Yes,” he says, “it is  _quite_ the story.” 

“There was a battle over who would get it, but,” he reaches into a box beside the arm of the sofa and pulls out a ratty book. “I won the book  _and_ I won his heart.” 

  

Dorcas and Marlene help the boys unpack the kitchen and the living room before they leave, vowing to come over again tomorrow to finish the job, but they’re only met with Remus’ ‘ _no no’s and ‘we couldn’t possibly ask you to do anything more’s._ When he finally shuts the door behind them, he lets out a sigh. 

“Well, that was fucking exhausting.”  

“You think so?” Sirius asks, placing his newly acquired wine glass on the floor beside where he sits. “I thought it was quite nice.” 

“You weren’t constantly on edge?”  

“No. They’re not going to probe too deeply, and we have our story straight. Also, I moved all the ‘case shit’ under the bed after they knocked.” Sirius explains smugly. 

“Oh, that’s what you were doing when you said you were changing. I was wondering about that.” 

“Ever the quick thinker, I am”  

“Speaking of having our story straight, let’s go over some details. I don’t want to slip up.” Remus suggests, sliding onto the floor next to Sirius, even though he knows fine well that there’s a sofa behind them. 

“So, I’m a ‘freelance journalist’ or whatever, and you’re a… What was it again?” 

“A photographer,” Sirius supplies. “You sure you know what that is?” 

“Fuck off,” Remus says, shoving Sirius gently, “I forgot what they said.” 

“I still think I should have been a model. I’d be  _much_ better on the other end of the camera, especially with this face.” 

“You’re too old to be a model,” Remus counters, “look at all those wrinkles.” He lifts a hand, pointing at Sirius’ face but he bats it away. 

“I have never been so offended in my life, Remus Lupin -” 

“Shut up,” Remus cuts him off, “where was our first date?” 

“After our spontaneous book themed meeting, you asked me out then and there. We walked in the park and you held my hand and I took pictures of you in the moonlight because I’m a photographer. Doesn’t that sound nice?” 

“Yes,” Remus says quietly, “It does. Stupid and sappy, but nice, I guess.” 

“See, I am brilliant at this. It’s like I’ve made these characters in my head and I know how they’d act. For instance, you said I love you first.” 

“Me?” Remus questions incredulously. “Why me?” 

“Well, because you would.” Sirius replies as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. 

“I would  _not._ That’s you.” He points at Sirius. “You’re the sap.” 

“Maybe so,” Sirius says, “But you said I love you first, I know it.” 

“Fine,” Remus concedes, knees cracking as he stands up. “It’s late. Get yourself in that comfy bed and leave me to my sofa.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI if u enojyed PLEASE comment and leave kudos they breathe life into me

**Author's Note:**

> please leave a kudos if u enjoyed this, and a comment as any feedback on this will make me happy and probably make me more likely to update, which i hope that i can do.


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